Trump Bid to Deport Columbia Activist Khalil Likely Unconstitutional, Judge Says

A U.S. judge said on Wednesday the Trump administration's bid to deport Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is likely unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz in Newark, New Jersey said he will issue a further order with next steps later on Wednesday. Khalil is currently in immigration detention in Louisiana.

Khalil was arrested on March 8 after the State Department revoked his green card under a little-used provision of U.S. immigration law granting the U.S. secretary of state the power to seek the deportation of any non-citizen whose presence in the country is deemed adverse to U.S. foreign policy interests.

Farbiarz wrote that Khalil was likely to succeed in his argument that the provision "is unconstitutional as applied to him."